We are passing the four-month mark on the frontier. Four months living in Montana, and I think the question most asked of me by my friends and family is: "Would you have done this? Would you have applied to live on the frontier as an 1883 homesteader?" Quickly followed by: "Could you have done it? Could you survive?" I wonder ...

Last week I had my first chance to go where no production member has gone before: a sleepover on the Frontier! Karen and Mark Glenn, from our Tennessee family, had to go on an overnight journey to the store for monthly supplies, and the question arose: Could their kids, Erinn and Logan, spend a night alone on the frontier? We all felt this was not such a good idea; there have been a lot of bears in the area lately, they have a lot of livestock to care for, and it can be dangerous to keep the wood stoves burning.

"It is really dark here ... There are so many stars ... You never see stars like this in the city ... It is so beautiful."

Also, it is quite isolated on the frontier. I offered up my services. Erinn and Logan are great kids, and I imagined the evening in the cabin: all of us huddling by the oil lamp, talking and laughing. It sounded like fun to me.